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LifeOhm Book Club – The Book of Joy

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The Book of JoyI’m starting a new monthly series here on LifeOhm where I can share some of my favorite books with you. This one, The Book of Joy, I actually read in January, but I loved it so much that I knew it had to be the first book I featured. I got this book as a Christmas gift (thanks Mom!) and am planning to gift this book to others.

The Book of Joy is the story about Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s trip to visit the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India to celebrate His Holiness’s eightieth birthday and to create what they hoped would be a gift for others, and it truly is a gift.

Writer Douglas Abrams helped facilitate the dialogue and brought in some of his own research to support the concepts presented. The reader gets the benefit of the wisdom of these spiritual leaders, groundbreaking research on joy, and to witness the playful interaction between these sweet souls. [Read more…] about LifeOhm Book Club – The Book of Joy

5 Steps to Changing the World Doing What You Love

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"You change the world by being yourself." ~Yoko Ono

Sometimes people make light of the idea that each of us is a “special snowflake,” but guess what? It’s true. There is no one else exactly like you in the universe, and there’s no one else exactly like me either. We each have a unique way of doing things and a form of expression that no one else has.

This uniqueness provides each of us with a rare and priceless opportunity to provide a unique gift to the world. Even when we do work that is similar to others’, our presentation and expression is guaranteed to be different.

The Dagara tribe in Africa understands this concept well. The Dagara know that each person brings an irreplaceable contribution to the world, not just to their family and community. When a tribal elder dies,  it’s seen as the equivalent of a massive library burning to the ground. In death, the elder’s knowledge and gifts are lost to the world. [Read more…] about 5 Steps to Changing the World Doing What You Love

Important Lessons on Compassion and World Peace from the Dalai Lama’s Visit to Portland, Oregon

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Dalai Lama

“Change in the world comes from individuals, from the inner peace in individual hearts. Just as ripples spread out when a single pebble is dropped into water, the actions of individuals can have far-reaching effects.” ~Dalai Lama

Who doesn’t love the Dalai Lama and his message of peace and love? The Dalai Lama was just in Portland, Oregon over the weekend and drew huge crowds. Most of the events were sold out well in advance but there are recordings of his talks online at: Dalai Lama In Portland. Most of his talks were about the caring for our environment but he also shared some wonderful wisdom about world peace and compassion.

According to the Dalai Lama:

  • Most of our problems are related to the mind, so we have to work to reduce our destructive emotions and
  • We can reduce negative emotions through training our mind.
  • We need to strengthen such inner values as contentment, patience and tolerance, as well as compassion for others.
  • Anger is a sign of weakness while compassion is a sign of strength and confidence.
  • We can counter negative emotion with opposite emotion, which for anger would be loving kindness.
  • Focusing only on the physical reality of this world leads to despair.
  • We must hold the belief that all people are the same, we must live and work together.
  • The only way to solve problems is through dialogue, not violence.

He mentioned that while the twentieth century was a period of unprecedented bloodshed, we should learn from it and make the twenty-first century an era of peace. It is not that there will no longer be any problems to resolve, but instead of force we should resort to dialogue in every instance. Peace can only be achieved through non-violence and dialogue. This is something we have to train and educate our children to put into effect.

For more information about the Dalai Lama’s visit to Portland, you can visit his website DalaiLama.com.

Photo Credit: Fizzr on Flickr through a Creative Commons license.